Flexible collapsible fluid bladder



' March 23, 1948. A. N. SPANEL 2, 33, 51

FLEXIBLE COLLAPSIBLE FLUID BLADDER Original Filed May 7, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet l ABRAHAMN.5PANEL..

av M

4a ATTORNEYS.

' INVENTOR- March 23, 1948; A. N. SPANEL 2,438,351

FLEXIBLE COLLAPSIBLE FLUID BLADDER Original Filed May 7,, L945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ABRAHAM N. SPANEI...

BY M a ,q ww

ATTO RN EYS Patented Mar. 23, 1948 ()riginal application May 7, 1343 Serial No. 486,031. Divided and this application May 23, 1945, Serial No. 595,466

7. Claims.

invention relates to flexible, collapsible bladders for containing fluid. The invention is particularly adapted for and may be usefully employed in the making of inflatable articles, such as toys, life-saving equipment, pontoons and the like; as well as liquid containers, such as canteens and larger receptacles for holding and transporting liquids.

This, application is a division of .rnycopending application Serial No 486,031, filed May '7, 1943 for Flexible collapsible fluid bladders, which matured into Patent 2,387,539, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 469,268, filed December 1-6, 1 942, for -Flexible collapsible fluid containers and method of; producing same, now Patent No. 2,323,629, issued July 6, 1943.

An object of the invention is to provide im-. proved flexible collapsible bladders for contain-, ing fluid.

Another object of the invention is to provide such bladders having an attached filling tube and sturdy, dependable and easily operable closure means therefor, adapted to be produced economically.

The invention consists in the novel features, arrangements andcombination of parts embodied by Way of example in the devices hereinafter described as illustrating the preferred forms of the invention, and the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will more clearly appear from the detailed description givenbelow taken in connection with the, accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification.

Fig. 1 is a View in elevation, with certain parts in section, illustrating an embodiment of the me vention and showing means for closing the flll-. ing tube;

Fig. 2 is a segmented sectional view illustrating a variation of a certain detail of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1; I

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the tube in closed position;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken at the line 55 of Fig. 4;.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a modified embodiment of, the invention comprising a fi1l-. ing tube especially adapted for gaseous fluids, such as latab arti les; and r Fig. 7 is a view sim a to Flsfien llust a embud ment ene al similar to th Fia 6 b comprisin a variation therefrom.

nv P tent :N9-. 2,323,629, ranted. July 6, 9455, I have d cl sed; a bladder having a side wall: of flexible sheet thermoplastic synthetic res: ous mater such a vin resin-s, of w ich Vinylite is an example; and other suitable there. moplastic resinous materials, such, as vinyl b11- t rol, eth ce ulose s colate, Saran, and. the like therm plastic materials, may be similarly mp ed:-

ce tainembodime ts of said der, id th neoplastic side wall is. provided with an outer fabric lamination entirely surrounding it and iniesr i secured t ereto at, certain limited areas, n ludin an n ular zone around a filling o n ing. The present invention contemplates blade. ders of both the mere thermoplastic wall and th thermoplastic wall with an integrally secured fabric outer lamination. The formation of such bladder walls not being specifically claimed here-v in, they will; only be designated in general.

Refer-ring more particularly to Fig. 1: a fillin tube I (-Fig. 5) comprises an upper tubular por'-' tion 2 and a, lower flange portion 3. In this embodiment, the filling tube. is made of rubher and the bladder wall 5V is made of thermo- Plastic material as referred to above. The. upper and lower portions of the flange 3 are coated with a suitable adhesive, preferably in the form- .of synthetic rubber cement, such as l-Iycar containing a solvent compatible with both the rubber flange 3 and the thermoplastic Wall 5., such as methyl ethyl ketone. A skirt, such as an annular disk 4 (Fig. 1) made of thermoplastic sheet material, such as the material of which the bladder side wall 5 is made, is preferably positioned .over the tubular neck 2 with its lower face cemented tothe upper face of flange :3, and a skirt, such as an annular disk 6, made of relatively stronger fibrous material such as, fabric, is similarly cemented to the lower face of flange 3 with its central opening in register with the opening in the filling tube I. The skirt 6 extends beyond the flange 3 s0 as to provide an extendin marginal edge, the upper surface of which is coated with thermo-active material, such as; liquid Vinylite. After the skirts .4 and 6 have. been thus. attached .to the flange 3., the tubular portion '2 is passed. outwardly through a hole in the side wall 5 to; bring the upper face. of skirt 4 and the upp fac Qf kirt iinto s me t w ih he ner fa e of. t side. Wall 5. i e ar us di p e n r nd pr s ure arepplied t h upp r ur a e. o th shee 5.

the thermoplastic wall 5 may be cemented to the top of flange 3, The temperature which I have successfully employed with the Vinylite material in effecting fusion is 240-260 F. for a period of 35-40 seconds at apressure sufiicient to seal the parts together, which pressure for Vinylite may be of the general order of 1200- 1800 pounds per square inch. In order to facilitate the fusion of the contiguous thermo-active' faces, at perhaps lower than normal temperatures and/or pressures, it is beneficial to apply to the" aforesaid faces to be fused a spray or thin coating of solvent, such as tricresyl phos- Dhate, or dioctylphthalate, or'a mixture of cyclohexanone and methyl ethyl ketone, or cyclohexanone methyl ethyl ketone. I

' Such fusion integrally unites the outer marginal edge of the disk 6 to the thermoplastic wall 5 to therebyprovide a skirt portion integral with said wall 5 and having two plies or layers surrounding the opening through which the tubular portion or neck extends. surfaces must be sufiicient to provide at the fusion areas not only a fluid seal but a substantially unified structure. The skirt portion 3, which is integral with the tube 2, is disposed between these I twoplies and is intimately secured thereto as by fusion of the thermoplastic contiguous surfaces, thus providing two independent seals, in series, between the unified body and the filling tube.

In Fig. 2, I have shown a somewhat modified means of attaching the filling tube flange to the sheet material." The flange is designated as 3', and instead of having its upper and lower surfaces coated with synthetic rubber cement,'the entire flange is dipped in liquid Vinylite so as to provide-an enveloping layer 1 which surrounds the lower'portion of the tubular portion 2 and completely encloses the flange 3, except for the lower opening therethrough. In this embodiment, the entire upper face of the fibrous disk 6 is coated witha thermoplastic material, which under pressure and heat fuses to the coating 7 and to. the inner face of the sheet 5 overlying the marginal edge of disk 6'. In this embodiment likewise, the thermoplastic disk 4' may be employed, or, in the alternative, the sheet 5' may be directly fused to the coating 1.

I;have provided the following means for closing the filling tube which provides a sturdy dependable structure which may be readily manufactured and attached to the filling tube with facility so as to always be available for quickly opening or closing the tube.

'Referring to Figs. 1 and 3: a fibrous strap 8 made of suitable materialsuch as heavy fabric strip, is passed around the tubular portion 2 and folded back upon itself and secured in place such as' by a rivet 9 which preferably is formed as'a part of one fastening element l0 (Fig. 3). The

opposite or free end of the strap is provided with l a cooperating fastening means H which is prefer ably secured thereto by a rivet portion l2 pass ing through a folded portion of the strap which The fusion of these portion 11. is designated I 8 in this embodiment and is promoplastic flexible nipple M is provided, having a lower flange divided into an upper skirt portion I5 and a lowerskirt portion l6, providing therebetween an annular recess, and a tubular neck The thermoplastic bladder side wall vided with an opening, the annular marginal edge. of which is inserted in the recess provided between the skirts |5-|6. The respectively opposite faces qfsaid thermoplastic side wall are then fused to the respectively corresponding c on tiguous surfaces-of said thermoplastic-skirts in the manner above pointed out. It will thus be seen that the skirt 5 is fused to the'si'de'wall18 to provide a first annular seal surrounding the tubular portion I1 and the lower skirt 6 i's'fused to the side wall I8 to provide a second annular seal surrounding said tubular portion? The inner end of a flexible tubular filling spout IBIpie'ferably made of rubber, is inserted withinthetubu lar neck portion IT and is securedj in fluldseald I nipple designated in general as'20 providsad upwardly extending tubular neck 2I provided at its inner end with an outwardly extending flange or skirt portion 22. In the present embodiment:

the nipple 20 is of molded thermoplastic ma;

q terial, preferably of the same character as that of which the bladder sidewall 23 is formed, The

skirt 22 is disposed on the interior of the bladder side wall 23 with its upperface contiguousithe inner side of the wall 23, and the neck 2] extends outwardly through a hole provided in the wall 23. A skirt, such as an annulardisk 24 of sheet" ther moplastic material, is disposed beneathth'e' flange 22 with its upper face lying adjacent the" lower face of said flange. A disk'24 is providedwith the central opening in register with the -openingl'nf the tube 2| and the external diameter of thdisk' 24 is larger than the external diameter 'ofi the flange 22 so as to extend'outwardly therebeyondy the outwardly extending marginal edgelyingjcona tiguous the inner surface of the wall 2 3. With the parts thus disposed heat and pressurefarea structure in which the filling nipple has a flexi bl'e skirt connected to the bladder side wall proper in such a manner that two independent seals are interposed in series between the side wall and filling tube or nipple. Accordingly, any fluid path between the bladder wall and nipple flange includes at least two independent seals. In addition, this structure furnishes a means of distributing the strain between the thin thermoplastic side wall and tube by-the use of the two seal areas which are fused in intimate union with the flexible flange.

Having thus described my invention with particularity with reference to the preferred form of the same and in connection with the preferred method of producingthe same, and having referred to certain modifications, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that other changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I aim in the appended claims to cover such changes and modifications as are within the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a bladder, the combination of a hollow body having a flexible thermoplastic resinous side wall provided with a filling opening and a sur rounding integral annular skirt portion, a flexible filling nipple providing a flexible tubular portion and an integral flexible annular skirt portion, one of said skirt portions comprising two plies and the other skirt portion comprising one ply interposed between said two plies, respectively contiguous of said skirt portions beingintimately secured in sealing relationship to thereby provide two separate annular seals between said two integral skirt portions, whereby two independent seals are interposed in series between and form the juncture of the said side wall and flexible flange of said filling nipple.

2. In a bladder, the combination of a hollow body having a flexible thermoplastic resinous side wall, a flexible thermoplastic resinous filling nipple having a flexible tubular portion and an integral flexible skirt providing a first annular surface area fused to a corresponding annular area of said side wall to provide a first seal, and a second flexible skirt integral with said tubular portion and providing a second annular surface area of thermoactive material surrounding said tubular portion and fused to a corresponding annular area of said side wall to provide a second seal, whereby two independent seals are interposed in series between and form the juncture of the said side wall and flexible flange of said filling nipple.

3. In a bladder construction, the combination of a body having a side wall of flexible thermoplastic resinous material, a filling tube of flexible material having a tubular portion extending through said side wall and an integral flange portion on its inner end disposed within said body and secured in sealed relationship to the inner surface of said wall through which said tubular portion extends, to thereby provide a first annular seal surrounding said tubular portion, and a skirt secured in sealed relationship to the under face of said flange .portion having an opening inregister with the interior of said tube and a periphery disposed beyond said flange to provide an extended marginal edge, the upper face of said marginal edge bein a thermoactive substance fused to the inner surface of said envelope and providing a second annular seal surrounding said flange portion, wherehytw'o separate seals are interposed in any :path between said bladder wall and nipple.

l. In a bladder construction, the combination of a body' having a'side'wall of flexible thermoplastic resinous material, a filling tube of flexible material having a tubular portion and an integral flange portion on its'inner enddisposed within said body, alayerof thermoplastic material surrounding said tubular portion secured to the upper face of said flange portion and fused to the inner-surface of said body through which said tubular portion extends to thereby provide a first annular seal surrounding said tubular portion, and a fabric skirt secured to the .under face of said flange portion having anopening in register with the interior of said'tube and a periphery disposed beyond said flange to provide an extended marginal edge, the upper face of said marginal edge being provided with a thermoactive substance fused to the inner surface of said body and providing a second annular seal surrounding said flange portion, whereby two separate seals are interposed in any path between said bladder Wall and nipple.

5. In a bladder construction, the combination of a body having a side wall of flexible thermoplastic resinous material, a filling tube of flexible material having a tubualr portion and an integral flange portion on its inner end disposed within said body, a skirt of thermoplastic material surrounding said tubular portion and secured to the upper face of said flange portion and fused to the inner surface of said wall through which said tubular portion extends, to thereby provide a first annular seal surrounding said tubular portion, a skirt secured to the un der face of said flange portion having an opening in register with the interior of said tube and a periphery disposed beyond said flange to provide an extended marginal edge, the upper face of said marginal edge being secured to the inner surface of said envelope and providing a second independent annular seal surrounding said flange portion in series with said first seal relative to the juncture between said bladder side wall and said filling tube, and a closure means for said tube comprising a strap provided with a closed loop surrounding said tube, one of a pair of cooperating fastening members secured to said strap adjacent said loop, the other of said pair of fastening members secured to the opposite end of said strap, the distance between said cooperating fasteners being such that when said tube is bent over upon itself and said strap encircles the folds of said tube said fasteners will come into registering engagement one with the other and hold said tube closed.

6. In a bladder, the combination of a hollow body having a flexible thermoplastic resinous side wall, a flexible thermoplastic resinous filling nipple having a tubular portion and an integral flexible skirt providing a first annular surface area fused to a corresponding annular area of said side wall to provide a first seal, a second flexible skirt integral with said tubular portion and providing a second annular surface area of thermo-active material surrounding said tubular portion and fused to a corresponding annular area of said side wall to provide a second seal to thereby provide two independent seals interposed in series between and forming the juncture of said bladder side wall and nipple, and a tubular flexible rubber mouthpiece adhesively secured in fluid sealing relationship within,

said thermoplastic-tubular nipple portion and extending outwardly therefrom. i 3

7. In a bladder, the vcombination of a hollow body having a thermoplastic resinous side wall, a flexible thermoplastic resinous filling nipple having a tubular portion and an integral flexible flange surrounding said tubular; portion, said flange being divided into upper and lower skirt portions providing therebetween an annular recess surrouning said tubular portion, said side wall being provided with an opening through which said tubular portion extends and the portion of said wall surrounding said opening being disposed within said annular recess and having its opposite faces fused to respectively contiguous faces of said skirt portion to thereby provide two rindependent'seals interposed in series hetherefrom. v

ABRAHAM N. SPANEL.

REFERENCES CITED, I

The following references file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS v Number Name 7 Date I 501,715 Hardwick July 18, 1893 2,137,223 Baxter Nov. 22, 1938 2,387,539

Spanel Oct. 23, 1945 are of record in the r Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,438,351. March 23, 1948. ABRAHAM N. SPANEL It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Column 3, line 27, after the syllable anone insert or; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correcW- tion therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 18th day of May, A. D. 1948.

THOMAS F. MURPHY;

Assistant Commissioner of Patents. 

